Much like the 1985 national championship team, the 1990 squad won UCLA's second NCAA championship with defense.

The Bruins blazed into the NCAA playoffs having outscored opponents 14-3 in the final three games. After a first round bye, they defeated San Diego 2-1 on a Joe-Max Moore goal in overtime. In the quarterfinals, UCLA, behind redshirt freshman goalkeeper Brad Friedel, shut out SMU 2-0 to advance to the Final Four.

Once in Tampa, FL for the Final Four, however, UCLA's, as well as its opponents', offense vanished. Despite being outshot 33-14 by its semifinal opponent North Carolina State, UCLA held ground and kept the game scoreless after regulation play and two 15-minute overtime periods. This was done even while playing the final 28 minutes down a man after senior defender Ray Fernandez was ejected. In the penalty shootout, UCLA scored on penalty kicks by Tim Gallegos, Moore, Sam George, Chris Henderson and last-minute substitute Mark Sharp. The Wolfpack converted three kicks, with Friedel deflecting a shot by Scott Schweitzer for the game-saver.

With the victory, the Bruins advanced to the championship game against Rutgers. Once again, a defensive battle ensued, with both teams going scoreless.

1990 NCAA Champions

In the shootout, Rutgers' Lino DiCuollo connected in the first round, and Rutgers appeared to be in control after Bill Andracki stopped George's shot. However, Steve Rammel missed his second round shot to put UCLA back in the contest. Moore scored next, then Dave Mueller missed his shot to give UCLA the advantage. Gallegos and Henderson, as well as their Rutgers counterparts, converted on their attempts to bring the score to 3-3 with just one kick remaining. This left the stage open for freshman Jorge Salcedo, who had missed three times in high school in penalty kick shootouts. This time, Salcedo observed Andracki on the previous three kicks and noticed the goalkeeper guessing early. Salcedo waited for the goalkeeper to make his move then hit the winning shot.